Collapsible crate



Oct. 21, 1930. w. F. GEDDES COLLAPSIBLE CRATE Filed Aug. 21, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 21, 1930. w. F. GEDDES COLLAPSIBLE CRATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 21, 1928 Patented Oct. 21, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 WILLIAM F. GEDDES, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALBERT E. JUDD, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA GOLLAPSIBLE 01mm Application filed August 21, 1928. Serial No. 301,083.

My invention is a folding crate of a type adapted to contain and protect articlesagainst damage during shipment.

An object of my invention is the provision of a shipping crate of new and improved desl 'n.

A more detailed object is the provision of a shipping crate which may be folded and thus collapsed to occupy a space considerably less 10 than that occupied by the crate when in operative relation. This feature permits collapsing the crate after removal of its con tents, so that the crate can be shipped back to its original shippingpoint for further use. A further object is the provision of a fold? ing crate as described, of such improved design that when in assembled position, it is of sufiicient rigidity to afiord fully as much prot-ectionto the commodity shipped therein as though the crate were constructed along conventional lines and not'susc'eptible to folding. A still further object is the provision of a shipping crate as described, wherein the same fastening means may be applied to the crate in either extended or folded position. In other Words, the same fastening means are used regardless of whether the crate is being used to protect a commodity during shipment, or whether the crate is folded and being shipped back to the original shipping point. The invention possesses other objects and advantageous features, some of which,'with those enumerated, will be set forth in the following description of the inventions particular embodiment which is illustrated in the drawingsadcompianying and forming a part of the specification.

The form of construction herein disclosed, has in actual use,proven to be very efficient, capable of facile and rapid operation, generally desirable in other respects. For these reasons, the details herein disclosed may be considered as preferred. It should be mentioned however, that while these detailswill hereinafter be specifically described, variations may be efiected within the scope of the invention as claimed.

' Referring to the drawings: 7

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the crate age during shipment.

of my invention, in extended 'or operative position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the crate after having been collapsed; I a Fig. 3.is a perspective view of the crate after the top has been removed and the sides and ends have been released in the operation of folding;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal, vertical, medial, sectional view of the crate in extended posi tion, and with a bath-tub contained therein for shipment; a r

Fig. 5'is a transverse, vertical sectional view of the folded crate, the plane of'section being indicated by the lines 55 of Fig. 2, and the direction of view by the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary, horizontal sectional view of one corner of the crate, showing the manner of connecting the ends and sides when in operative position. The plane of section may be considered as having been taken upon the line 66 of Fig.4, and with the direction of View indicated by the arrows.

Many commodities present a problem in shipping, which is considerably difficult of solution, owing to the fact that the commodities are more or less subject to being damaged, either because they are fragile or because a finish has been imparted to them which is subject to being: damaged. Accordingly, these articles require 'being'heavily crated 'tosuitably protect them against dam- I Particularly true is this if the commodity is relatively heavy. As a result, the crating process is one 'resulting in no little expense, both as to time and material necessitatedin. the construction of'th'e crate and. packing the article therein.

Even though considerable expense is entailed,,it has heretofore been the customary practice to discard crates after the article shipped therein has been removed, because the relatively large volume of the crates, makes shipment of the empty crates back to the original shipping point impractical. As a result, a very considerable waste ensues;

and it is toward overcoming this waste that my invention is particularly directed.

While the crate of my: invention is of general application, being of value in shipping a Wide range of commodities, that of the present application is designed par 'icularly for the shipment of bath-tubs. This class of article has been selected in order to illustrate a use of my invention because it p176" sents unusually difficult problems i crating and shipment, owing to the Pa 1 .1 great weight thereof, and also due to the. fact that such articles have an enameled finish quite easily chipped, and thus requiring unusually efiicieut crating to prevent damage to the bath-tub during shipment. Accordingly, while the crate of my invention. is described as being particularly adapted in the shipment of bath-tubs, I wish it to be understood that I do not contemplate being limited to this particular field in the enjoyment of my invention, but that this especial type of crate has been employed for illustrative purposes only.

In the most practical. form of my invention of which I am at present awarev the crate comprises a bottom indicated 1.. its entirety at 6. This bottom comprises a plurality of slats 7 and 8 arranged in parallelism and retained in spaced arrangement by a plurality of cleats 9 and 11. The slats 7 adjacent the sides of the bottom 6, preferably wider than the slats 8 disposed there between to impart a sufficient degree of strength and rigidity to the structure.

An end 12 is mounted upon each end of the bottom 6 by means of hinges Each of the ends 12 comprises slats 14 and 16 retained in spaced parallel arrangement by cleats 17; and the hinged mounting of the ends 12 upon the bottom 6 is such that the ends 12 may extend optionally vertically from the bottom 6 as shown upon 1 and 4, or parallel to and below the bottom 6 clearly shown upon Figs. 2 and 5. For this purpose the bottom cleat 14 of each end 12, is bei eled as at 18, as is each end of the bottom 6 as at 19. This permits the ends 1.2 to extend vertically from, and closely adjacent the ends of the bottom 6, even though, the hinges 13 are mounted upon the outer surfaces of the bottom 6 and ends 12 that the ends can be swung through an arc of 270. However. since the ends 1.2 are oil: :ly less width than the bottom 6, the beveled portion 19 at each end of the bottom 6 does not need to extend throughout the entire width ofthe bottom. Rather. a shoulder may be left at each end of each of the beveled portions 19 upon the bottom 6.

Each of the sides 22 of the crate, composed of an upper section 23 joined by hinges 24 to a lower section 26, which, in turn, is hinged to the adjacent side of the bottom 6 by hinges 27. I have found it convenient to construct the hinges 24 and 27 by hinging plates 28 and 29, to opposite ends of a plate 81, the plate 29 forming the means of convel y necting the hinge to the bottom 6, and the plate 31 forming the cleats or foundation for the lower side member 26, and the plate 28 providing means for connecting to the upper side member 23. Hence, the lower side member may be conveniently constructed by rigidly securing a slat 32 to both of the plates 31 which are associated with each side of the bottom 6. The upper side member 23 comprises a plurality of slats 33 held in spaced parallel arrangement by cleats 34 to which the plates 28 are rigidly secured.

The upper side member 23 has ridly connected thereto adjacent each end, a pair of spaced cleats 36 and 37 and each of the sides 22 is of sufiicient length so that when the cleat is in assembled position, the sides of the ends 12 are received between the cleats 36 and 37 to rigidly hold the ends 12 against displacement.

The cleats 36 hold the ends against moving outwards, and the cleats 37 hold them against moving inwards as long as the sides 22 are maintained closely adjacent the sides of the ends, as best shown. upon Fig. 6.

A top 41 is also provided, this top being formed of a plurality of slats 42 and 43, retained in parallel spaced arrangement by a plurality of cleats 44. Attention is directed to the fact that the sides 22 extend slightly above the upper-edges of the ends 12. This arrangement makes it possible to dispose the top 41 upon the upper edges of the ends 12 and between the upper edges of the sides 22, as clearly shown upon Fig. 1.

A recess or notch 46 is formed adjacent each corner of the top 41 and each of the cleats carried by the sides 22 are receivable within one of the notches 46 when the crate is extended. This feature adds materially to the rigidity of the assembled cleat, preventing racking thereof when subjected to stresses.

A plurality of brackets 47 are rigidly attached to the top 41-preferably a pair of brackets being associated with each of the cleats 44. Each of the brackets 47 is provided with an aperture 48 for the reception of a bolt 49. Similar apertures 51 are provided adjacent the upper edges of the sides 22, each of these apertures being in register with the aperture in one of the brackets 47, so that one of the bolts 49 may be passed through one of the brackets 47 and through the associated hole 51 in the side 22, to securely clamp the sides against the top 41. Thus it may be seen that not only is the top held against displacement, but the sides are held closely thereagainst, with the result that the ends 12 are rigidly locked against movement by the cleats 36 and 37 as previously explained.

The plates 31 forming a portion of the hinge mounting of the sides 22, are of a length corresponding to the combined thicknesses of the bottom 6, top 41, and side 22;

and the slat 32 with which the lower member 26 of each side 22 is provided, corresponds in thickness to the top 41. As a result of these details of construction, room is provided for disposing the top 41 directly: upon the bottom 6, after the ends 12 have been folded outwards, and folding the sides 22 down over the top 41 as indicated upon Figs. 7

- 2 ends. Then, to complete the folding operation, theends 12 should be folded back so that they lie parallel to'the bottom 6 and against the under sidethereof.

. My invention contemplates employing the same fastening means for retaining the crate rigidly both in assembled relations and in folded relation. v vided additional holes so disposed that those of each of several groups come into register with each other When the crate is folded, and the number of these groups corresponds to the number of bolts 49 to be accommodated. Accordingly, since the modification shown utilizes six bolts 49, I have provided additional holes 52 through the top slat 33 of each of the sides 22. These holes are spaced from the ends adistance equal to the height of the ends 12 sothat when the ends 12 are folded back under the bottom 6, apertures 53 provided in the top rail of the ends, come in register with the holes52. Similarly, holes 54 are formed in the rails 8 and the slats 11 immediately therebelow, these holes .54 being positioned to be also in register with the holes 52 when the crate is folded. Preferably the holes 52 of the two sides are spaced with respect, to opposite ends, and the holes 53 of the ends are disposed upon opposite sides of a longitudinal, medial plane of the crate so that the hole 52 provided in one of the sides 22 is in register with thehole 53 in one ofthe ends, and the hole 52 in the other side 22 is in register with the hole 53in the other end.

Thus two of the bolts 49 may be accom modated. The other four bolts 49 are taken care of by forming two holes 56 in each of the end cleats 44 of the top 41, these holes 56 being positioned to come into register with the holes 51 adjacent the ends of the sides 22 when the crate isfolded. Holes 57 in register with the holes 56 are formed in the bottom 6 as are holes 58 in the lowermost slat 14 of each end 12. As a result, when" the bolts 49 are tightened within the groups the position indicated upon Fig. 3. bath-tubfmay then be disposed upon the top Accordingly, I have pro bath-tub, within the crate of invention, convenience is'aiiorded by spreading the sides and ends of the'crate upon the fioor in The 6, after which the ends 12 are raised and then the sides "22, 'until the-ends 12 are'engaged between the cleats 36 and 37; The-top 41 is then placed in position and the bolts 49 inserted into their respective apertures 51 in p the sides 22land apertures 48 in the brackets 47. When the bolts 49 are tightened, it .will

be found thatthe cleat is possessedof an extreme degree of rigidity offerlngamaximum protection for the commodity-being shipped;

I When itis desired to remove the bath-tub from the crate, the bolts 49 are removed,

permitting-displacement of the top 41. The

sides 22 are then foldeddownw'ards against thejfloor, releasing the ends 12, permitting them also .to belaid down fiat upon the floor, affording easy removal ofthe bathtub. l I

- To fold the crate, the top 41 is then placed upon the bottom 6 and the sides 22 then folded up and the upper sections 23of the sides 22 folded down upon the upper surface of the top 41.. Y The ends 12 are then'folded back against the under surface of the bottom 6,

- after which the bolts 49 may be inserted in their respective groups of aligned apertures crate in folded position, permitting shipmenttof the empty and compactly folded crate back to the original shipping point for subsequent use.

1 Whilev I have described the various membersv such as ends, sides, top, and bottom of the crate as beingcomposed of cleats and slats or rails, I wish it to be understood that the crate wouldbe of equal value and fully as serviceable if not more so, for certain classes of use, if these members were to be composed of solid panels. When the crate is constructed in this manner, i. e., of solid paneling, the resultant structure, when in operative position, is a completely enclosed box useful in shippingloose articles in bulk.

I claim: 1. In a collapsible crate, a bottom, ends hinged to the bottom and positionable to extend optionally vertically upwards therefrom or in parallelism therewith against the under surface thereof, sides comprising a plurality of sections hingedly joined, the lowermost section of each side being hinged to the bottomand of width sufiicient to position the remainder of the associated side in parallelism .with the bottom and spaced therefrom, a top receivable upon the top edges of said ends and between the top edges of said sides, and cleats secured to said sides and engageable with said ends to hold the ends against displacement, said cleats being also receivable within recesses in said top to brace the assembled crate against racking.

. at tosecurely lock the various portions'of the 2. In a collapsible crate a bottom, ends hinged to the bottom and positionable to ex tend optionally vertically upwards there from or in parallelism therewith against the under surface thereof, sides comprising a plurality of sections hingedly oined, the lowermost section of each side being hinged to the bottom and of width SLllllClGlll) to posi tion the remainder of the associated side in 10 parallelism with the bottom and spaced therefrom, a top receivable upon the top edges of said ends and between the top edges of said sides, cleats secured to said sides and engageable with said ends to hold the ends against displacement, said cleats being also receivable within recesses in said top to brace the assembled crate against racking, brackets rigid With said top and bolts receivable within apertures in said brac ets and within apertures in said sides to rigiciy lock the crate in assembled relation, said bolts being also receivable Within other apertures in the sides, top, bottom, and ends when the crate is collapsed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

7. F. GEDDES. 

